If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Welding table project.

Hi all, before I start, I'm sure you get many similar ď Student making such and such thatís welding related, for a school project and wants to questionnaire some peopleĒ, so I donít mind if I have few replies because they are all valuable.
I am currently a student doing my a-levels and am taking design and technology. For my final year project I have chosen the theme of welding and more specifically jigs and fixtures for welding. I am to design and build a heavy duty table which can be height adjustable and that must have some kind of modular clamping system that used hole or slots in the table surface, (similar to the strong hand build pro table in the US or like the clamping surface on a milling machine). I have facility to have the surcease laser cut from up to 25mm steel plate so the heavy duty part ainít a problem.
I would like to ask a few questions to help me gather some more detail on what experienced welders and fabricators would want from a table like I have described, it would be much appreciated if you could answer some or all of my questions:

Do you weld as a hobby or do you weld at a professional level or both?

How large is the workshop you currently weld in?

Do you currently own a heavy duty welding table? If yes did you buy it or build it yourself and does it have any facility for modular fixturing?

Would you use the table for welding only and have a separate general purpose bench or would you use the table for general use as well as welding on?

what kind of welding do you do the most? (MIG, TIG, arc, oxy)

if the table had some kind of storage facility what would you preferably store in it? (Welding consumables, Grinding consumables, Hand tools, Power tools, ect)

Do you have any problems or frustrations with wires and gas lines getting tangled around where you weld.

Do you think a table which includes features for modular fixturing would increase your productivity over making separate jigs for every weldment?

The table will be adjustable in height. I have a selected a few ways that I could use to make the table height adjustable; Manual lift and pin(like a crutch), Rack and pinion with a locking clamp(like a drill press), screw legs(like adjustable feet), scissor screw(like a scissor lift with a screw) or hydraulic with 4 hydraulic cylinders. Which do you think would be most suitable for my application? Or do you have another suggestion.

Would you prefer to have the table totally static or have castor wheels to make it movable?

Are there any features or point that you want to add?

Please feel free to constructively criticize my questions and thanks a lot in advance for your time. Any answers are much appreciated.
Twigster.

Thanks for the reply Pass-N-Gas. Im sure its my computer, i dont seem to be able to get any results from the serch feature for any serch perameters. I have read several build threads from other members who have built similar tables and they have been useful for me in gathering ideas, but for me the purpose of this thread is more to gather some information about the sort of person who may be interested in purchasing such table and what sort of features they would like to see from it, rather than being directly fed ideas. its called the market reaserch element of my project. It will later help me design my table to suit the needs of target market, ie you.

Do you weld as a hobby or do you weld at a professional level or both?

Both

How large is the workshop you currently weld in?

28' x 20'

Do you currently own a heavy duty welding table? If yes did you buy it or build it yourself and does it have any facility for modular fixturing?

Yes. Built it myself. No fixturing, just room for clamping around the edge

Would you use the table for welding only and have a separate general purpose bench or would you use the table for general use as well as welding on?

I use it for lots of stuff, not enough room to dedicate it to welding only.

what kind of welding do you do the most? (MIG, TIG, arc, oxy)

MIG and TIG at home/hobby Stick at work

if the table had some kind of storage facility what would you preferably store in it? (Welding consumables, Grinding consumables, Hand tools, Power tools, ect)

All the above

Do you have any problems or frustrations with wires and gas lines getting tangled around where you weld.

Doesn't everyone!

Do you think a table which includes features for modular fixturing would increase your productivity over making separate jigs for every weldment?

Probably not for what I do, as all my stuff is one-offs

The table will be adjustable in height. I have a selected a few ways that I could use to make the table height adjustable; Manual lift and pin(like a crutch), Rack and pinion with a locking clamp(like a drill press), screw legs(like adjustable feet), scissor screw(like a scissor lift with a screw) or hydraulic with 4 hydraulic cylinders. Which do you think would be most suitable for my application? Or do you have another suggestion.

Generally I don't see a need for an adjustable height.
Your table will be too heavy for idea #1. Hydraulic would be too costly.

Would you prefer to have the table totally static or have castor wheels to make it movable?

Moveable with locking wheels

Are there any features or point that you want to add?

Please feel free to constructively criticize my questions and thanks a lot in advance for your time. Any answers are much appreciated.
Twigster.

Hi again all. Thanks for the replys. The main reason i want to make it height adjustable if for getting heavy objects on to the table without a lift and then being able to lift them with the table to a suitable height. The table also needs to be a globaly valid design and so needs to suit all shapes and sizes of people and so a tall person may find the optimum working height to be higher than a shorted person would find it.

Thanks for the reply Pass-N-Gas. Im sure its my computer, i dont seem to be able to get any results from the serch feature for any serch perameters. I have read several build threads from other members who have built similar tables and they have been useful for me in gathering ideas, but for me the purpose of this thread is more to gather some information about the sort of person who may be interested in purchasing such table and what sort of features they would like to see from it, rather than being directly fed ideas. its called the market reaserch element of my project. It will later help me design my table to suit the needs of target market, ie you.

I'm sorry Pass-N-Gas, The search feature just wont work at all for me, not even on the computers at school. When i open the link you supplied it just says no results found. 5 Pages of table related threads, wow, that's a lot and it would be really helpful i could access them i so far i have only seen a few. I know its a lot of effort but please could you post a few of the threads as links separately for me, it would be really helpful when i comes to inspiration.